Revelation 1:7-9

Verse 7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen”.

Now John addresses what Christ had told the disciples back in the Olivet discourse. Christ will come with clouds (we saw that sign) and every eye shall see him. This will be a glorious, brilliant coming that nobody will miss. Everyone on the planet will see this happening. The Jews are separated out here for special mention when he says “and they also which pierced him”. Zech. 12:10 “And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourned for his only son. Everyone will wail because of His appearance. The Jews will realize they missed out on their Messiah and mourn for their loss, and the rest of the world will realize that Christianity is true and that it is too late for them because judgment is about to fall.

Verse 8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

John now writes what Christ has spoken. He says that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. He says of Himself that He is, was, and will come. This is like God the Father who was described as the one who was, is, and will come. He is the source of our beginning, and the source of our ending. He uses the Greek alphabet letters to denote beginning and end as alpha is the first letter of the alphabet, and omega is the last.

Verse 9 “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

John introduces himself. He is our “brother” (in Christ), and companion in tribulation, the kingdom (millennial) and patience of Jesus Christ. Tribulation is expected for Christian and we will all reign in the millennial kingdom. Now here is the first mention of patience (as I said earlier). What is this patience all about? Is it patience waiting for the Lord’s return? Actually yes, that is exactly what it means. But what some don’t understand is that it isn’t the simple patience of waiting while you lead a normal life, it is that patient endurance that will require so much faith when it would be so easy to give up hope that He will return.

John had been exiled to the isle of Patmos because he was preaching the gospel. John is the only one of the twelve apostles that died a normal old age death rather than being martyred.